Navy ROTC Works to Support Local Veterans

Fundraiser sells shirts to benefit Mississippi State Veterans Home of Oxford

MARCH 29, 2019 BY JUSTIN WHITMORE

The University of Mississippi Navy ROTC is selling T-shirts and sweatshirts featuring the logo of the Oxford-based nonprofit Volunteers for Veterans to raise money for the State Veterans Home in Oxford.

The University of Mississippi‘s Navy ROTC program is hoping to give back to Oxford’s military veteran community with a fundraiser that will raise money to support the Mississippi State Veterans Home of Oxford.

“We in the Ole Miss ROTC programs receive a lot of support from (local military veteran) organizations and we think it’s also important to try and support them as well,” said Lt. Zak Smith, UM Navy ROTC instructor. “We like to think of the military organizations here in Oxford as a mutually supportive community.”

Officers with Ole Miss Navy ROTC designed T-shirts and sweatshirts featuring a “Volunteers for Veterans of Oxford, Mississippi” logo that will be sold online, with all sales going to the Volunteers for Veterans nonprofit. Volunteers for Veterans, an Oxford-based group that states its goal as “improving the lives of veterans in need in Oxford and Lafayette County,” will direct the money to support the Mississippi State Veterans Home.

Oxford-area veterans have often chipped in to purchase medals and ribbons for ROTC graduates, as well as helping fund events for the unit, Smith said. The fundraiser is a way for Ole Miss ROTC to give back to the supportive community of past, present and future military service members.

“Here in Oxford, we have older veterans with groups like VFW; the student veterans who have served and are on campus pursuing degrees; the current cadets who will soon be military veterans and even the junior ROTC program,” Smith said. “We all work together.

“We wanted to raise money for the VA home but also spotlight our veteran community as a whole. We have so many veterans here in Oxford for such a small town that is more than an hour-and-a-half away from any major base. It’s pretty unique.”

Shirts and sweatshirts can be purchased at https://oxfordveterans.com/. Both are available in several colors and styles. T-shirts are $25 and sweatshirts are $35. The fundraising campaign opens April 1 and purchases can be made on the website through April 21.

For more information about the campaign or to inquire about purchasing, contact Smith at zwsmith2@olemiss.edu.